When We Face the Closed Door

Parting the Red Sea

(3rd painting of revelation 22 series)

Artwork inspired by 1 John 5:6

Keiko Yamada

Acrylic Painting on Canvas

24 x 30

Today’s painting is called “Parting The Red Sea”. Under a sky shimmering with stars, this piece portrays the very moment a path is about to emerge through the crimson sea. Before painting, crushed eggshells were scattered across the canvas, giving the surface a unique, mosaic-like texture.

Scattering crushed eggshells on canvas can be long and tedious process, but it also provides me with moment to reflect, even to pray. Sometimes when I hear the crisp “crack” sound of an eggshell breaking, I often think of things that are "broken" in this world and how it can be redeemed in God's hand.

Closed Door

If an eggshell represents our heart, there are moments when it gets crushed and we hear the unbearable "crack" sound within us. I've certainly experienced that when I had to face a closed door while I was applying to change my student visa to another type of visa so that I could continue living in the United States.

Visa application contained many challenges and I actually got denied the first time. But with support of many generous people, I was able to apply for the second time. Yet the moment I opened the notice informing me that my application had been denied, I experienced what I can only describe as my own "crack." It also followed by an overwhelming sense of loss that words cannot fully describe.

The United States had been my home for the longest period of my life. It held countless memories and precious relationships that I had built over the years. In a single moment, I lost my place there. Simply because I was now "a foreigner without legal permission to stay," I felt as though I had been pushed outside with no say in the matter.

At that time, my Red Sea did not part.

The parting of the Red Sea is one of the Bible's most well-known stories and has been depicted by artists for centuries. Pharaoh's army stood before the Israelites, while the Red Sea lay behind them. With no escape in sight, Moses and the people of Israel found themselves trapped. Then God miraculously divided the sea, creating a temporary path through the water and rescuing His people.

Whether or not one believes this event literally happened, I think all of us have experienced moments when we desperately wished that a path would somehow open before us.

When life suddenly falls apart.

When every door seems closed.

When no solution is in sight and it feels as though there is no one left to turn to.

I found myself praying with all my heart that a way would open for me to remain in America—that this "sea" of the visa application process would somehow part. Because I believed in miracles, because I prayed, and because I had done everything within my ability, the outcome was deeply disappointing.

This experience forced me to face a reality that was both painful and undeniable: regardless of how long I had lived abroad, outside of my own country, I am still a foreigner.

I was deeply grateful that I had a country I could return to and a family there who loved me.

Yet after living outside Japan for twenty-six years, I wondered whether I would truly have a place there anymore. Would I belong in society? Would I find my place among people again?

Citizenship

The Bible says:

"But our citizenship is in heaven."— Philippians 3:20 (NIV)

The apostle Paul, who wrote these words, possessed Roman citizenship—a privilege that many people of his day admired and desired. If anything, he could have boasted about this citizenship, but his greatest confidence was his citizenship in heaven.

Paul believed that when his life on earth came to an end, there was a place where he would be welcomed home with the words, "Welcome home."

A place that could never be taken away.

A place where he truly belonged.

For Paul, that place was heaven.

Heaven?

But how could Paul be so certain that he would enter heaven?

Even before I believed in Christ, I imagined heaven as a place that is perfectly pure and holy. If that were true, I wondered whether someone like me—who could never honestly claim to be completely pure in heart or mind—would have any place there at all.

Entering God's House

To enter someone's home, you first have to be welcomed by the owner. If you are family or a close friend, you might hear the words, "Welcome home."

If heaven is where God dwells—if it is God's home—then perhaps we need to know Him personally while we are still living on this earth. Then, when our earthly lives come to an end, we can return to the country where the God we have come to know lives and say, "I'm home."

According to the Bible, every one of us was created by God's own hands.

We once belonged in His household and were created as people of immeasurable value.

Just as every work of art has an artist who created it, we too have a Creator. We are not here simply because of a series of fortunate accidents.

Yet the Bible also tells us that humanity chose to walk away from God.

The story of Adam and Eve shows that the first human beings deliberately chose to live independently of God, making themselves the center of their own lives. In doing so, they abandoned the place where they truly belonged. As a result, humanity lost both the way back home and any claim to enter God's house on its own.

The Bible explains that the reason why this world, and even ourselves are broken because our relationship with the God who created us—and all creation—has been broken.

If we are the ones who betrayed God, how can that relationship ever be restored?

Can our good deeds, achievements, or possessions ever pay the price for that betrayal?

How can people whose hearts have been stained by sin ever become fit for heaven?

Here is where hope begins.

God Himself longs for us to know Him again.

He patiently waits for us to seek Him willingly.

The greatest evidence of that love is that Jesus Christ, who is God, came into this world as a human being.

A Question That Determines Where Our Souls Belong

Most historians and scholars of religion agree that Jesus Christ was a real historical person. Few would deny the enormous influence His life and teachings have had on history.

Here's the question that can affect us for eternity:

Was Jesus merely a remarkable human being, or was He truly God—the One who belongs to heaven and has the authority to welcome us there?

Parting the Red Sea　

The Inspiration Behind Parting the Red Sea

This painting, Parting the Red Sea, was inspired by 1 John 5:6.

"This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ.

He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.

And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth."— 1 John 5:6 (NIV)

For someone reading this passage for the first time, its imagery may seem difficult to understand.

Simply put, it teaches that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human.

Just as dirty water cannot wash a dirty rag clean, sinful human beings cannot cleanse themselves before a holy God. Only someone completely without sin could accomplish that.

That is why Jesus was born in the miraculous way Scripture describes—through the virgin birth. Although He lived without a single sin or stain, He willingly died on the cross in our place.

God knew that humanity could never open the way to heaven on its own.

So instead of waiting for us to reach Him, He made the first move.

He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to open that way for us.

When we acknowledge our sin before God, recognize that Christ has paid the price we could never pay ourselves, and turn back to God in faith, our relationship with Him is restored.

From that very moment, we begin to discover how deeply we are known and loved by God. Throughout the rest of our lives on earth, we have the privilege of experiencing the depth of His grace and love.

And when our earthly journey finally comes to an end, we will be welcomed into heaven—the home of the God we have come to know—with the words:

"Welcome home."

The Sea That Was Parted

So what happend to my visa in the end?

Becoming a Christian does not mean that everything in life will go smoothly, and we do face close door or situation that we cannot understand. But what sustained me was this:my true citizenship is in heaven, and I have the joy of walking with God here and now, even while I am still on this earth.

After my visa application was denied, I returned to Japan and applied for the same visa again. Both application process and waiting time took long, and as a result, it took two years for me to find out the result.

Some people may think, Two years? That's such a long time.

But looking back, those two years became one of God's greatest gifts to me.

During that season, God molded my heart to see His grace within the ordinary. God broke down layers of pride that I hadn't even realized I was carrying and was keeping me from seeing red seas that are already parted because of Christ. Because I lived with my family for the first time in eighteen years, we shared conversations that otherwise never would have happened. I met new people, formed new friendships, and discovered unexpected opportunities.

In the end, what I gained during those two years far outweighed the challenges and disappointments I had faced.

Then, two years later, in a way and at a time I could never have anticipated, my visa was finally approved.

The path back to America opened.

Yet I have come to realize that an even greater Red Sea had already been parted.

Far more significant than receiving a visa was the way God deepened my relationship with Him and enriched the relationships He had given me. Those unseen miracles have become the foundation of the person I am today.

What is your Red Sea?

Perhaps you are facing a situation where every road seems blocked. Perhaps your heart feels like a shattered eggshell, broken beyond recognition by pain that seems impossible to bear.

But the Artist who created you still loves you and are waiting for you to walk through the Red Sea that He already opened for you and you can walk in it anytime you want if you chose to do so.

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🌸　Reflection Questions

1. Do you believe heaven is real? If it is, what do you think it is like, and how do you believe a person can enter it?

2. Have you ever experienced the feeling of losing your place—of no longer belonging?

If we truly did gained a place in heaven through Christ, how might that change the way you live today?

3. This painting is built around three primary colors. Blue represents water, red represents blood, and white represents the Holy Spirit, based on 1John 5:6. Knowing Jesus was fully man and fully God, what hope and strength can you obtain today?

🙏　Suggested Prayer

Lord, thank You for knowing the Red Sea I am facing right now better than anyone else. Whether You choose to open that path or leave it closed for reasons I may not understand, thank You for being the One who is always near whenever I seek You. Please help me never abandon the hope found in the “Red Sea that leads to heaven”—the way You have already opened for me through Your grace.

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Thanks for reading!God bless you!